Words are breaking into modern life that only a few have heard before. Expat is one of those words. But what does it mean? Let's try to find out.
Who are the expats
Expat is an English term that is short for expatriate and means "being outside the homeland." Expatriates used to be called people who were forced to leave the country for which they were citizens for a long time, or even forever. Often this procedure was also accompanied by the deprivation of citizenship. Nowadays , the meaning of the word expat has become less severe and has become the slang name of foreign specialists who realize their labor potential outside their own country. So the Kyrgyz janitors sweeping Moscow’s bridges are also, in a sense, expats.
Although, speaking of expats, they usually do not mean street cleaners. As a rule, an expat is a first-class highly paid specialist, often a leader, specially invited to work abroad.
Expats in the world
In world practice, expat is a familiar phenomenon: it is common for a person to look for a place where he lives better. But many states that are interested in the influx of skilled labor almost compete among themselves in attracting expats. In 2013, a number of Asian countries turned out to be the most attractive for foreign specialists. In search of a better fate, foreigners increasingly chose for themselves the actively developing Singapore and China, Thailand and Taiwan. Moreover, these countries attracted hired specialists not only with more comfortable working conditions, but also with a better quality of life: a warm climate, ease of social integration, etc. Russia is also considered to be a bad place for expats, where the labor force “from behind the hill” has become appearing from the 90s of the last century.
Foreigners in the Russian Federation
Russia among expats is indeed considered a successful state for earning and building a career. But not only finance attracts outside workers here: expats in Russia come across different. Leaving the familiar world and changing habitat is not at all as easy as it might seem. This requires serious motivation, and not in all cases it is money.
Most often, an expat is a rather young man, in whose views on life there is still a fair amount of romance. Some sincerely dream of making the world a better place and consider their work in Russia an important step towards universal harmony. But there is an opposite example: lonely, well-earned guys, burning their lives in the company of numerous women, try to create an endless holiday for themselves in a foreign country. Some travel enthusiast, coming to Russia for only a few months, can fall in love and stay here for a long time. But someone was forced to move after a husband or wife who had already settled in Moscow. Sometimes an expat is someone who has had to leave his country because of personal problems or the inability to achieve tangible success in it. And there is a special type of expatriates who come to Russia, as they say, with the Bible and bare foot. As a rule, these people work in non-governmental, charitable or religious organizations, their mission is to do all sorts of good deeds, and earnings in this case are already in the background.
Foreigners and business
And yet, most foreigners come to Russia for material reasons. Basically, they work under contract in prestigious foreign companies - most often in banking or construction, consulting and advertising, media business and design. Also, many expats are building their careers in the oil business and in a number of scientific fields. Sometimes an expat is a civil servant working in a consulate or embassy. In addition to high wages, almost all of these people were provided with a solid social package, including low-cost housing, free flights and other pleasures of life, often not available in their homeland.
But, despite the obvious advantages, the life of expats in Russia can not always be called blessed. The difference in mentality affects, it is not always possible to get the usual service in medicine and a communal apartment. Well, sometimes expats ... they just hate it.
Why they do not like expat
For some Russian managers, expat is comparable only with a red rag for a bull. Foreign colleagues are generally not liked; foreign chefs - even more so. There are many reasons for this: from a significant difference in earnings to mental differences. True, one can only guess about the level of salaries - this information is usually kept secret. But behavioral differences are evident, and this often becomes the cause of strained relations in the team. Russian colleagues usually condemn foreign managers for their reluctance to learn the language and follow the traditions accepted in Russia. An expat executive is often an object of particular dislike. The subordinates accuse their boss-foreigner of completely ignoring Russian rules of conduct and imposing on others work according to their own laws. An expat executive usually likes ambitious, aspiring employees, and in Russia these same qualities are more likely to be perceived as negative. Foreigners try not to confuse business and personal, in Russia this is a common occurrence, as well as informal relations between managers and subordinates.
True, expats have something to say about the Russians. They often accuse their local colleagues of neglecting business ethics, of the low productivity of their work, of other sins, incompatible with foreign ideas about good work. It is hard to say which of the conflicting parties is true. Although in fairness it is worth noting that in world practice, the attitude towards foreign managers is usually much more loyal than towards expat colleagues in Russian corporations.
So who is an expat
In the current era of globalism, the movement of people from country to country is a natural and inevitable phenomenon. Millions of Russians in search of a better fate for years or forever left their homeland, and somewhere in America or Europe, Asia or Australia are now also called expats. Perhaps they are satisfied with their material well-being, but is local bread always sweet to them? Are they mentally in the surroundings, have local traditions been to their taste, have they developed an understanding with colleagues?
However, everyone builds his own life, and he himself pays the bills if he made a mistake. But it is important to remember: an expat is a man! Similar to those around him or not, observing local traditions or living his own way, he is still worthy of respect from those around him. Let's learn to understand each other!